The Great Ballpark Chase – The Sports Fan Project

The Great Ballpark Chase: Fountains & Waterfalls

October 5, 2022July 31, 2023timothynrussell4 Comments

To take a baseball bus tour, you probably have to be some sort of a super fan, at least somewhat.

It is a lot of baseball compressed into a short amount of time. It can be tiring, especially since you almost always feel like you are on the go.

Kauffman Stadium Scoreboard — **^{While the author did make a stop at Kauffman Stadium, he did not appear on Kiss Cam. (Photo by Tim Russell)}**

This was the completion of my seven-city, seven ballpark tour with Diamond Baseball Tours in June. It started in Denver, CO, and finished in Kansas City, MO.

It was definitely a good time, though. You got to meet a lot of people with similar interests. I’ve introduced you to a few of them throughout this series and today I’ll introduce you to five more.

First, there was a three-generation family from the New Jersey area. Andy and his son, Kevin had completed a tour a few years ago. Andy’s father, Charles, asked why didn’t you take me? So when this year came around Charles, 83, was a part of the group, along with Andy and Kevin and Andy’s niece, Madison.

Fan allegiances were spread out as well. Charles is a Yankee fan while Andy is a Mets fan and Kevin a Phillies fan.

Then there is Margie, who had the shortest distance home after the tour ended. She is a native of Kansas City, so it was only a few miles after reclaiming her car at airport parking.

Margie, a Red Sox fan, is a Diamond Hall of Fame member. She has seen every ballpark on a Diamond Tour. In fact, she has seen all 30 ballparks twice and is starting a third go around. She has also started incorporating football into her stadium travels, usually a baseball game on Friday, college football on Saturday, and pro football on Sunday.

While Margie has seen all 30 with Diamond, she has also used other tour companies, such as Jay Buckley and Sports Travel and Tours.

So when we pulled into Kauffman Stadium after a long week, it was still exhilarating as we walked into the stadium, which is possibly one of the more intriguing stadiums to cross off the list. It is one of the oldest stadiums, but the outfield waterfalls and fountains make for a unique experience.

**^{The view behind homeplate at Kauffman Stadium and the Water Spectacular in motion. (Photos by Tim Russell)}**

Known as the Water Spectacular, the fountains are on display before, after, and between innings of any game. The waterfalls are constantly flowing. It is the largest privately funded fountain in the world.

It is a pretty cool experience to be able to walk right next to the fountains. You can’t walk from right field to left field without going up and down stairs. The fountains do offer some small relief from the heat with the spray from the fountains.

Kauffman Stadium Waterfalls & Fountains — **^{Fans can get up close and personal with the fountains and waterfalls. (Photos by Tim Russell)}**

**^{Fans can get up close and personal with the fountains and waterfalls. (Photos by Tim Russell)}**

Kauffman is the sixth oldest stadium in Major League Baseball, behind Boston’s Fenway Park (1912), Chicago’s Wrigley Field (1914), Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium (1962), Angels Stadium of Anaheim (1966), and the Oakland Coliseum (1966).

Kauffman was the only baseball-only park built in the majors from 1966-1991. It was also one of the few baseball-only facilities built during the cookie-cutter stadium building boom. Kauffman is one of two such stadiums that are still active and were never converted into multi-purpose stadiums. Dodger Stadium is the other.

The main stadium is primarily concrete, with a smooth, uncovered facade. The stands wrap around the infield and end at the foul poles, with smaller bleacher sections in the outfield. The Royals call them outfield plazas.

Current field dimensions are 330 feet down the left field line, 387 to left-center, 410 to center field, 387 to right-center and 330 down the right field line. The backstop is 60 feet behind home plate.

Beginning in 2007, the Royals had a red seat placed in the stadium to honor Buck O’Neil, who was finally inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in July. The seat, which was formerly occupied by O’Neil, is located behind home plate. It was section 101, Row C, Seat 1 until stadium renovations in 2009. It is now Section 127, Row C, Seat 9.

The Royals honor a person who embodies the spirit of O’Neil, selected from community nominees to sit in that seat each game. O’Neil played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro leagues from 1937 to 1955.

The Royals have a pretty extensive Hall of Fame as part of the Outfield Experience. The Hall of Fame starts out with the Clubhouse Lobby, where the Royals’ retired numbers are displayed. There is also Cooperstown Corner, the Royals Way and the Plaque Gallery.

In the Crowning Moments section, you can see trophies from the 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1984 division titles, as well as the 1980 and 1985 American League pennants.

Finally, the Plaque Gallery winds up the visit, where you can see all 26 Royals Hall members, including third baseman George Brett, second baseman Frank White, manager Dick Howser and former owners Ewing and Muriel Kauffman.

Those five also have statues near the outfield gates. Brett, Howser and White are in right field while the Kauffmans greet fans in left field.

Also part of the Outfield Experience is a kids’ play area, highlighted by a whiffle ball field. There is also the Taste of KC food court and a sports bar-themed restaurant in right field.

In the game, Oakland defeated Kansas City, 9-7. The Athletics took an early 2-0 lead in the first and never lost the lead. The Royals would score three in the eighth, but would get no closer.

Royals Hall of Fame — **^{The Royals’ retired jersey numbers hang in the Hall of Fame as does a tribute to George Brett’s 3,154 hits constructed of baseballs in the form of Brett’s number 5. (Photos by Tim Russell)}**

**^{The Royals’ retired jersey numbers hang in the Hall of Fame as does a tribute to George Brett’s 3,154 hits constructed of baseballs in the form of Brett’s number 5. (Photos by Tim Russell)}**

The Great Ballpark Chase: Sidetrip!

September 28, 2022September 28, 2022timothynrussell3 Comments

It’s quite fitting that the Gem Theater sits across from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

The museum, nestled in the 18^th and Vine District of Kansas City, is a gem and treasure trove of baseball history.

As part of the Diamond Baseball Tours Rockies Plus College World Series bus tour, this was a much-anticipated part of the trip. It was a tight schedule, but we were able to squeeze in about an hour or two in the museum.

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum was founded in 1990 by a group of former Negro league players, including Kansas City Monarch players Aldred Surratt, Buck O’Neil, Larry Lester, Phil S. Dixon, and Horace Peterson.

The museum started out in a small, single-room office inside the Lincoln Building in the 18^th and Vine district. In 1994, it moved to a 2,000-square foot space. Three years later, the museum moved to its current 10,000-square foot home.

Probably the first thing you notice when you walk into the museum is the Field of Legends. You only catch a glimpse of the statues of the players, which are set up on a shortened baseball field. There is a screen separating you from the field, so it leaves you wanting to see more.

But you quickly forget that as you come across the statue of John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil Jr. watching the action on the Field of Legends. O’Neil was finally inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame this past summer, as an executive.

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum chronologically charts the progress of the leagues with several informative and interactive exhibits. Exhibits starts with memorabilia from the Negro National League of 1920 through the Negro American League, which lasted until 1962.

Visitors move through the museum, learning the history of black baseball. In one area of the museum, you’ll come across lockers for some of the legends of the Negro leagues. One can see game-worn uniforms, gloves, and other artifacts from stars such as Detroit Stars’ Norman “Turkey” Stearnes and Andrew Cooper. Josh Gibson, who was known as the Black Babe Ruth, is also featured prominently. Gibson played for the Homestead Grays, among others, and may have hit more than 800 home runs, although records are sketchy. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972.

**^{Jerseys of Detroit Stars’ Andrew Cooper and Turkey Stearnes. (Photos by Tim Russell)}**

**^{Jerseys of Detroit Stars’ Andrew Cooper and Turkey Stearnes. (Photos by Tim Russell)}**

Stearnes was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000, 21 years after his death in Detroit. His wife, Nettie Mae, was instrumental in helping to get her husband inducted.

One of 12 remaining Negro league stadiums was recently renovated in Hamtramck, MI, in part by the Hamtramck Stadium Grounds Crew. This was the same crew that helped clean up the former Tiger Stadium site before the Police Athletic League took over. The Navin Field Grounds Crew, as they were known originally, were made up of volunteers that kept the Michigan and Trumbull site clean after the city had neglected it. They even eventually held old time baseball games there.

After PAL took over the Tiger Stadium site, the volunteer crew set their sights on Hamtramck Stadium. It was rededicated this past summer as Turkey Stearnes Field. There is also a plaque honoring Stearnes outside the center field gate at Detroit’s Comerica Park.

At the PAL site, officially known as The Corner Ballpark, there is a display honoring Stearnes along the third base concourse.

Of the 12 remaining Negro league stadiums left, the majority hosted only occasional league games. Only Hinchcliffe Stadium in Paterson, NJ, and Rickwood Field in Birmingham, AL, were in use longer than Hamtramck Stadium.

Major League Baseball has recently announced plans to possibly host a Major League game at Hinchcliffe Stadium, similar to recent games at Iowa’s Field of Dreams.

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum was on the verge of financial collapse in 2008, but current president Bob Kendrick took over in 2011. By the following year, he helped the museum experience a profit of $300,000, it’s most successful year since 2007.

Kendrick is a frequent visitor to the museum. You may even get a chance to toss the ball around with him on the Field of Legends, which is at the end of your walk through the museum.

**^{Clockwise from upper left, Negro Leaguers Buck Leonard, Cool Papa Bell, a look out into the Field of Legends, Rube Foster, and a replica of a hotel room. (Photos by Tim Russell)}**

**^{Clockwise from upper left, Negro Leaguers Buck Leonard, Cool Papa Bell, a look out into the Field of Legends, Rube Foster, and a replica of a hotel room. (Photos by Tim Russell)}**

Geddy Lee, lead singer of the rock band Rush, made one of the largest single donations to the NLBM. Lee, an avid baseball fan of the Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays, donated nearly 200 autographed baseballs to the museum. Those signatures included names such as Hank Aaron, Cool Papa Bell, and Lionel Hampton.

The Great Ballpark Chase: The Overview

August 10, 2022July 31, 2023timothynrussell26 Comments

People will come, Ray. The one constant through all the years Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again. Oh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.
Terence Mann (James Earl Jones) to Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) in Field of Dreams

Baseball is a special game.

There’s just something about it that makes it magical. At times, it may lack action, but watching a 1-0 game can be more fun than a 32-20 football game or a 5-2 hockey game.

The majesty of the perfect pitch. The art of turning a 6-4-3 double play. Watching the arc of a 3-run home run.

It’s what makes the game worth watching and following. And why I have always been a baseball fan. And what made me start chasing ballparks.

How do you chase a ballpark, you ask? It’s simple. It’s the quest to see all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums. Some do the feat in 30 days, some in one year, and some a park or two per season. Some even expand it to Minor League stadiums as well.

^{Baseball Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, right, and Phil Niekro participate in the last first-pitch at Turner Field in Atlanta on October 2, 2016. Author Tim Russell was in attendance for this game. (Getty Images Photo)}

Officially, my chase started in winter 2015, when my brother and I made the trek to Lakeland, FL, to watch Tigers’ spring training. Obviously, we had watched many games before at Tiger Stadium and Comerica Park, but it was the first time we had decided to see more ballparks.

After the spring training trip, we spent a week in Baltimore and Washington, DC, since the Tigers were also spending a week there in 2016. We also saw the final game in Turner Field that season, which was the second time we saw Justin Verlander lose, 1-0.

Unfortunately, the chase ended in 2017. Our last trip together was San Diego for two games at Petco Park. Later that year, my brother passed unexpectedly. Although it’s not the same without him, I have continued the chase the past five years.

There are some personal rules as to what constitutes being able to check off a stadium. First and foremost, I have to see a game in the park. I also have to be there for first pitch and stay until the final out.

There are exceptions though. For example, in 2016, when we were in DC and Baltimore for back-to-back series it began with sightseeing in DC before we settled into the Tigers-Nationals game. It just happened to feature Max Scherzer pitching against the Tigers. It was the game he fanned 20, although I was only able to see about 15, since we had to catch the last Amtrak train back to Baltimore, where we were staying for the week.

In total, I’ve been to 43 stadiums, including major league, minor league, college, summer collegiate, and independent leagues. To break it down even further, I have been to 20 MLB stadiums, although only 16 active. Of the retired stadiums, it includes Tiger Stadium, the Houston Astrodome, Globe Life Park (Rangers), and Turner Field (Braves).

This year, I took my first baseball bus tour, through Diamond Baseball Tours. Over seven days, 21 like-minded baseball fans started in Colorado and proceeded to Omaha for the College Baseball World Series, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Chicago White Sox, St. Louis, and before ending in Kansas City.

Throughout the remainder of the season, each Wednesday, I’ll recap a ballpark from that trip, including highlights, lowlights, food, and other curiosities to experience.